The Order of the Legion of Honor was created on May 19, 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte to reward the distinguished merits of the Nation. With the disappearance of the Order of St. Louis in 1792, soldiers and civilians, for the sake of equality, no longer saw their services recognized by the national community. Considering that one "" governs the peoples with rattles "", Bonaparte decided to recreate a national order valuing the citizens and to reconstitute an "aristocracy of merit".

Originally, there were 4 classes: Legionnaire, Officer, Commander and Grand Officer. An elusive annual pension was linked to promotion in order. Its amount was important since a legionaire received 250 gold francs, an officer 1000 gold francs, a commander 2000 gold francs and a grand officer 5000 gold francs

The first recipients were military. But civilians were also promoted.

Following the fires of the Commune, the files of the recipients under the Empire have disappeared. Fortunately, a general register had been drawn up. Without him, the memory of the first officers of the Legion of Honor would have disappeared.

• General status of the members of the Legion of Honor

Nominative General status digitized of the members of the Legion of Honor, from the origin to the Empire (1802-1814)